simple things, they stay the same
by Madame Rhea Di'Ey
Summary: Everything begins with death – including the friendship between Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyūga. [Pre-Uchiha Massacre. Vignette. Sorta fluffy.]


**title: **simple things, they stay the same  
**warnings: **surprisingly, none.  
**notes: **this actually in-keeps with the prompt for day two of the SH month (baby otp). Sorta.  
**notes2: **this was also supposed to be angsty but somehow it ended up a bit mushy too. what the heck, you ask? what the heck, I answer, because I'm surprised myself.

* * *

The news that Hyūga Yōko is dead spread throughout Konoha surprisingly fast.

Or not.

Everybody knows who she is (_was_): the only smiling Hyūga, with dirt stains on her dresses and gentleness in the pearls of her eyes. The genius girl who made it to ANBU captain at the age of eleven – women in ANBU were rare, and women Captains were even rarer.

Somehow, even the Uchiha had taken a shine to her, as much as they hated her family and her family hated them.

And that is why Uchiha Mikoto is awake at five in the morning with dust in her lungs and on her nose, searching her closet for the box where she had stored all of her black kimono after her mother and father and in-laws had all bit it. She had had to dig them up after the Nine-Tails' attack, and then again when Hizashi had sacrificed himself for his brother and niece. She had hid them in some dark corner each time, in vain hope it would steer death clear of her loved ones. No such luck, though, so she had been always left with the task of digging them back out.

She is bent over some boxes, and tears are dripping down her face and leaving behind itches along her cheeks that she doesn't bother to scratch.

They say Yōko fell ill after her second daughter's birth, and that it ate away at her until it eventually swallowed her whole. Mikoto knows this to be true; and it makes her hate Hiashi with every single fiber in her body. Yōko wouldn't be dead if he hadn't pushed her in that direction with his hopes of having sons, despite the doctors telling him her body wasn't meant to have more than one child.

"Why is haha-ue crying?" little Sasuke whispers conspiratorially into his elder brother's ear, perched in the crook of Itachi's arm as he is. "Is it because Hyūga-san went to Heaven?"

Slowly, his brother nods. "You see, Sasuke, Hyūga-sama was the last friend haha-ue had in this village."

"Huh? But haha-ue has lotsa friends!"

"There's a difference between those and the friendship haha-ue had with Hyūga-sama and Kushina-san," Itachi says, and Sasuke frowns, understanding yet not. His brother laughs quietly, and pets his head. "You'll understand when you're older and have friends of your own," he says, and receives an unsure nod in response. "Now, how about we go help haha-ue find her kimono?"

* * *

Yōko's funeral takes place on a cold November morning.

The winds drift and push and pull with violent fervor, and the charcoal sky looks like it's going to burst with rain and worse any time now.

Children are not allowed to the burial, per se, and that's how Itachi ends up as the designated sitter for both his brother and the two Hyūga heiresses. Hanabi is an unusually quiet infant, staring up at him with translucent, curious eyes. There's nothing of the former Hyūga-sama in them, though; she's all Hiashi, and somehow, he doesn't like it. Still, he is not the kind of person who dislikes a child because he dislikes their parent, so he lulls her all the same and holds her as gently as he can.

Hinata is just as silent as her baby sister, but he can see a broken cord within her, somehow.

And that, he understands.

If _his_ mother were to die, he'd probably not even be able to keep still. He'd just crawl into a dark corner and curl up in hopes of dying, at least until his father would barge in and drag him out; in which case he would do something very, very stupid. Her silence and composure make her a brave little girl in his opinion.

Tentatively, he pats her hand. "Are you alright, Hyūga-san?" he asks, and she flinches, turning wide doe eyes to him. The resemblance between her and the Yōko in some childhood photos Mikoto had shown him once is almost eerie, and he can't help but memorize the lines of her face. A part of him wants to remember her like this, before her clan will taint her with their ancient ways. He does the same with his brother when he is not aware; traces that childish merry smile and imprints it onto his heart and soul. "You look a little pale."

Sasuke watches them like a hawk, a scrunch in his brows.

"H-hai," the girl stutters out and bobs her head in a nod. "I'm f-fine."

"No, you aren't," Sasuke says. He is surprisingly perceptive and insensitive, as per usual. "And that's okay, you know. Haha-ue said your haha-ue is climbing to Heaven. You can be sad about it; I'd be sad, too, if my haha-ue climbed to heaven," he says, and half-walks half-crawls until he's in Hinata's face. "You know you can cry, right? We won't tell anyone – right, nii-san?"

"Mhm."

She tears up, then, and dabs at her eyes with the back of her hand. Itachi produces a tissue from an inner pocket in his haori, and politely offers it to her.

Hinata accepts it with a vague murmur of _thank you_, giving him a slight, watery smile.

For his part, Sasuke does something unexpected, and tentatively wraps his arms around her in an embrace. "'sokay," he says to the top of her head. "You'll be fine. Just 'cause your haha-ue is in Heaven doesn't mean she won't be by your side. Or so my haha-ue tells me, and, you know, my haha-ue is never wrong." She nods into his shoulder, sniffling, and gasps quietly when her tears stain the fabric of his top.

"I-I...!"

"It's fine, Hyūga-san," Itachi assures her. "It's just a kimono. It will be useless to him in a few months, anyway, since he's getting taller."

"Yeah," Sasuke says, and pulls back from her only slightly to give her a toothy grin. "So don't worry about it! Just cry until you're not sad anymore, okay?"

"O-okay," she nods, and with a nod of his own, he goes back to hugging her.

Privately, Itachi smiles at the scene, a gurgling Hanabi latched onto his finger.

Outside the rain is finally pouring and a village mourns a death, but here inside, he is witness to the birth of what will become a life-long friendship if his mother will have it her way. And if there is one thing certain in life, then that thing is Uchiha Mikoto always has it her way when she's hellbent on accomplishing something.

* * *

**notes3: **Itachi should babysit everyone. Then maybe we'd have less hate and more lovin'.


End file.
